Meat-mincer



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT W. HALE, OF NEXV BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT.

MEAT-MINORE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 23,24, dated March 15,1859; Reissued December 26, 1865, NO. 2,136.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALBERT W. HALE, of New Britain, State ofConnecticut, have invented a new and Improved Machine for Cutting orMincing Meat, Vegetables, &c.; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of referencemarked thereon and making a part of this specification.

The nature of my invention consist-s generally in the arrangement anduse of one or more grooved cylinders or rollers, revolving in a groovedor ribbed case, and acting against a stationary knife, whereby I producea machine economical and simple in construction, not liable to get outof order, and which can be easily kept sweet and clean for use.

Figure l, is a perspective view, the upper case being removed `or open,showing the construction of the case, the position of the groovedcylinders or rollers and also the place of discharge of the mincedarticle. Fig. 2, is a view of the lower case, one cylinder beingremoved, showing the position of the knife, and also the construction ofthe lower case, or cylinder bed. Fig. 3, is a view of that portion ofthe lower case, holding the knife. Fig. 4l, is an end view of thecylinders and knife in position; one cylinder being changed end for end,so as to show both the greatest and shallowest depths of the grooves.Fig. 5, is a side view of the machine with a stuifer attached. Fig. 6,is a sectional view of a machine with a single cylinder, instead of two.

The upper and lower cases A, and B, are constructed or tted with ribs orprojections a, a, Figs. l, 2, upon their inner concave surfaces, whichform, when the cases are in position or closed, a continuous spiral "ribor screw, inclining forward and toward the orifices Z1, Z), at which theminced article is discharged. These ribs a, a, may have any angle orinclination, more or less, as preferred, and as desired to have themeat, &c., pass slower or faster through the machine, but I generallyprefer to give them such an inclination, that in passing once around,they shall have advanced a distance about equal to the diameter of thefeeding orifice C, in order that anything fed into the machine wouldnaturally, in a single revolution, pass beyond the orifice C.

The cylinders or rollers D, and E, are of such a size as very nearly tolill the space between the cases A, and B, when closed, and so as toprevent the passing of anything of much size or bulk between the case,and the rollers. These cylinders have also a number of spiral grooves c,c, running lengthwise, the spiral course of which may be greater or lessas desired or found most convenient. The drawings represent five suchgrooves upon each cylinder, but the number is merely arbitrary, and maybe varied, as desired. These grooves are also not of uniform size, butvary in depths as seen in Figs. l, 4, their depth at one, or as it maybe called the front end, being about equal to the distance from theshaft or axle F, to the periphery of the cylinder, and thence graduallydiminishing toward the other end, until the bottom of the groove nearlyreaches the periphery of the cylinder, as seen in Fig. a, its distancehere being more or less as it may be desired to have the thing cutcoarser or finer, as from these ends of the grooves everything isdischarged from the machine, and nothing can pass out until cut smallenough to pass through these diminished orifices. From this constructionof the cylinders and their grooves, itis readily apparent that pieces ofmeat &c., while of a largish size are prevented from passing into theshallowest parts of the grooves, and are continually pressed backward,and carried by the revolution of the cylinders toward the knife orknives, hereafter mentioned, and will only be discharged from themachine, when cut line enough to pass out of the apertures Z9, .7), madeby the shallowest ends of the grooves with the surrounding case. Thediminishing of the area of the grooves or spaces between the flanges ofthe cylinders D, and E, may also be effected by decreasing the diametersof such cylinders at one end, thus giving them the form of a frustum ofa cone; and in such cases making the outer cases to fit to such form;and also in other ways. The particular form and arrangement of the partsis not material so long as this feature of diminishing the sectionalarea of the grooves, or spaces between the flanges, is substantiallypreserved. The number of grooves and flanges may also be greater at oneend of the cylinder than at other, and the flanges may have a variabletwist. The flanges or highest parts of such grooves,make at theperiphery of such cylinders edges e, e, which act against the knivesreferred to, with a drawing or shearing cut.

The position of the cylinders D, and E, in the cases A, and B, is suchthat the flanges or edges e, e, will lap a little upon each other, asshown in Figs. l and 4t, so that the cylinder operated by the crank F1,will communicate motionV to the other without gearing, and thus causeboth cylinders to revolve toward the knives placed between them ashereafter described, carrying with them by means of the grooves c, c,the article to be out, and which the depth of the grooves, as before setforth, prevents from passing forward, and out of the orifice until it issufficiently cut and minced. Instead however of constructing thecylinders with grooves as described, a shaft or axle may have flangesradiating from it, or placed tangentially upon it, which shall act uponthe knife H, in the, same way, as the edges c, c, the spaces betweensuch flanges being so filled, or the depth of the anges being sodiminished, as substantially to secure the taper of the groove abovereferred to. Nor is the spiral direction of the grooves or edges, asabove described, absolutely essential, as their arrangement may bevaried by making the flanges of the revolving cylinder parallel to itsaxis, and 'inclining the edge of the knife, and so adjusting thecylinders, as to preserve and secure the benefits and advantages of theshearing cut of such edges on the knife, as described.

The position of the knife or knives H is shown in Fig. 2, and also anend view in Fig. 4. They extend the length of the cylinders, and rest ina slot or recess in the lower or under case B, directly between thecylinders-shown in Fig. 3, and are of such a height that the edge t,will be at that point or line where the grooved cylinders leave eachother. As these cylinders revolve therefore, their flanges e, e, will beconstantly act-ing upon the edge of the knife,

'with a drawing or shear cut, thus acting most easily and effectually.

rThe slot or recess in which the knife or knives rest may be a littletapering on one side, Vso asV to allow the insertion of a small wedgej", Fig. 3, to fasten the knife; or such slot may be of uniform widthand broader, with tapering wedges placed on each side of the knife,operated by screws at either end, so that the position of the knife maybe adjusted as desired; or such slot may have a width uniform and alittle greater than the thickness of the knife, so that the knife mayrest in it loosely, its edge being kept in position by contact with thecylinders.

In order to give the edge of the knife the proper position, in respectto the cylinders D, and E, the ends of the back of the blade are beveledor ohamfered, as shown by the dotted lines f', f', Fig. 2, against whichwork screws g, g, to elevate the knife, as necessary; or the blade mayrest upon a small steel or other spring underneath it, or on a strip ofrubberbr other elastic material, or upon a wedge operated from eitherend to insure the contact of the edge. The' same principle of operationmay be secured by the use of a single revolving cylinder,

though of course the capacity of the machine will be somewhat less' Suchan arrangement is shown in Fig. 6. In such case the ribbed cases, andgrooved and flanged cylinder will be the same as above described, butthe knife H, will stand at one side of the cylinder D, and will besupported at its ends, and perhaps at its middle, and the article cutwill pass outside of the knife, into a cavityor recess Gr, cast at oneside of the cases for such purpose, and from thence under the knife, andagain in centact wit-h the cylinder D', and by it be again carried tothe knife. A more rapid operation may be obtained by placing a knife oneach side of such cylinder.

By attaching a funnel or stuffer J, as shown in Fig. 5, to the machine,casings of any kind can be filled at the same time the meat is minced./Vithout the stuifer, the machine is fitted for the ordinary uses ofcutting and mincing.

The several parts of the machine may be cast, and are at once fit foruse, except thatthe knife may be better rolled out the desired shape,and tempered cr hardened; and the cylinders may be cast, rolled, orforged. The whole is simple in construction, not liable to get out oforder, and every part is easily cleaned and kept sweet for use.

iVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent isA cutting or mincing machine operating by means of a cylinder orcylinders having tapering grooves extending from end to end, incombination with, and revolving in fluted or ribbed cases A, and B, andacting against a stationary knife or knives placed in a plane parallelwith the axes of the cylinders, the whole arranged substantially as andfor the purposes set forth.

i ALBERT W. HALE.

Vitnesses:

ALEX. M. WARD, L. A. WARD.

[FIRST PRINTED 1911.]

